Say hi to homeless, GOP prez candidates

It has the makings of a public relations nightmare: CNN, big-name politicians - and more than 100 homeless people sleeping on the sidewalks outside the Mahaffey Theater, the site of Wednesday's GOP presidential debate. With the national media coming to town, advocates for the city's homeless announced on Friday their plans for four days of protest, including a "sleep-in" and hunger strike.

More here.

Comments

[FS Tate]

Concerning the homeless, will obesity be their number one problem?

Homeless in the USA are of three types:

1. Those suffering from temporary setbacks (such as wrecked the car and burned out of the apartment) and who need a bit of help to get back on their feet.

2. Mentally ill who are not clear and immediate threats to their or others safety, rather who are long term threats to their own safety because they fail to take their medication, fail to pay their rent, and fail to pick up their welfare checks.

3. Life style homeless who are fully capable of working to support themselves, but would rather that we support them.

[FS Tate]

Why is it that the "homeless counts" always go up when Republicans are in office and news media attention always goes up. It is almost entirely political?

Of course it is.

It is not like they are steady "R" voters... In fact, they probably don't vote at all. Therefore: so what?

They don't have any city ordinances against sleeping in public? Public vagrancy?

[Zhombre]

Just another sideshow.

[UF Student]

I have yet to find a reason why someone should care about what a homeless person thinks about politics. They obviously haven't made the right life choices, so why should I care about what they think about politics?

UF Student,
Following your logic, why do I care what YOU think. Students don't vote anyway. Why do you think tuition and fees go up every year? You. Don't. Vote.

Besides, you totally missed the point. No one said that homeless people are the audience. Obviously they are not.

11:18 It is clear the homeless are not the audience. They are just the props the Ds are using to try to make the R candidates look. Bad. Well, guess what? The ds have been in control in DC for over a year now. What have they changed? NOTHING. That's why they rate even lower than W.

So bring on the bums!

[Campaign Manager]

I'm not sure whether you are being willfully ignorant or not, but let's go over this one more time - congressional approving ratings are not low because voters want the GOP back, they are low because the Democrats have not done enough to stop Bush.

People are upset and disappointed because we have not made significant strides towards getting out of Iraq or providing healthcare for more Americans.

Which is why, despite the low ratings, most forecasts (I recommend the Cook report, but also check out the Novak's analysis and Larry Sabato and others) show Democrats with net gains in both the House and the Senate in 2008 - despite the numbers you mentioned.

Campy that's pretty good spin - especially for a campaign manager. But don't fool yourself: Congress' ratings are low, because they have not done anything AT ALL.

Have they fixed Social Security? NO
Have they fixed Immigration? NO
Have they fixed Health Care? NO
Have they made it legal for gays to get married? NO

These are all their liberal positions. And they have failed to accomplish so much as ONE. That's why Congress' marks are low.

[Gene Smith]

2:13

You obviously haven't been paying attention. Try paying just a little bit more attention to how the Roadblock Republicans in congress are blocking getting our troops out of Iraq. Maybe we need to bring back that nuclear option the Gopers kept bandying about when they couldn't get 60 votes in the Senate for their judges. Surely getting our kids out of Iraq is worthy of that tactic.

But anyway, the voters aren't fooled. They know the answer to getting things rolling in Congress is simple - ELECT MORE DEMOCRATS!

I sure am glad that a candidate gave me two VIP tickets to the Debate so I won't have to watch these freak shows & circus acts going on outside Mahaffey Theater.

With Campaign Manager and Gene Smith, the spin is in. Nothing else need to be said. They know it all.

There's Gene Smith, wound up like a noisy mechanical toy, reciting his DNC talking points again. Yeah, gatordem, the Rethugs in Congress have put up a roadblock to the Democrat Defeatists engineering a precipitous withdrawal and defeat in Iraq.

[mike]

I'm sick of hearing about "the homeless." That's a cute term for BUM. These people are nothing but parasites who choose to scrounge off of others, and the reverend is the biggest parasite of them all. This reminds me of the scumbag welfare recipients who marched from Philly to Harrisburg, and threw their shoes over the fence at the governors mansion back in PA. Somehow these animals had a week to protest, and they could afford to toss their shoes, but they didn't have time to find a job and support themselves. Nobody cares, reverend. People are fed up with you parasitic miscreants demanding our money. Grow up and get a job!

No, Gene, I am just not engaging in wishful thinking and I have my eyes wide open.

This country's attention does not revolve around the Iraq conflict. It is not the sinkhole Vietnam was. In Vietnam, we were taking 5000 casualties PER YEAR. In Iraq, I don't believe we have had that many since went in, and now they are down altogether.

I read in the new york times about how we cut off al queda in iraq and things are really really better. people are coming out and going to places they would have never imagined. Look it up

[Carl]

hmmm . wonder how many of the homeless in St Pete are proud American veterans? way to show your support folks - in case you missed it - the number of Veteran homeless has jumped tremendously the past seven years.

Make sure that magnet on the back of the car is shiny, wouldn't want anyone to think you don't Support the Troops.

[Susan S]

Where to begin?

Good news from Iraq? Yeah. Perhaps because many have left the country and the remaining population has segregated into religious sects. Or perhaps because we have a lot more troops babysitting while they get their political act together. Oh, wait, that's not happening. I guess as long as we stay there (to the tune of billions per year) things will be better. Hooray.

UF Student, what an embarrassment you are to your school. I guess the word "compassion" isn't taught in Gainesville. The same goes for Mike. Perhaps you don't know that a huge percentage of the homeless are veterans who are suffering from service-related illnesses. (Not that it would matter to you because your "support" for the troops probably consists of magnetic ribbons and empty platitudes)

6:14pm, yes, you are so right. We don't have 5000 dead every year because the body armor does a better job of keeping them alive. However, we have many more than that maimed and brain-damaged who will require treatment for the rest of their lives. How sad that you discount the damage being done to our brave soldiers.

[mike]

I love self-righteous people like susan. They like to talk about compassion and tell everyone how morally superior they are, but they sure don't let these parasites stay at THEIR houses. Instead they lock the doors of their goofy little hybrids and zip right by those poor noble creatures. I guess they're in a hurry to get home so they can post here and feel superior because "they care."

Uf Student ..Continue the fight againt these right wing GOp operatives intent on destroying our Constitution and our liberty in favor of Corporate America and the Religious Neobaptists.The GOP and its corrupt Old man White Boy Candidates have a right to debate the status Quoand preach to their minions of Fox news Addicts..These candidates just need to acknowledge the accomplishments of their leader GW Bush and wrap themselves in the flag of his great accomplishments and stop running away from the wonderful things hes done for America.Endless war,wiretapping,political dirty tricks,Plame ,and an endless attack on the Constitution.We need to round up the Homeless and put them in the "Demonsatation " area behind a fence 7 miles from the debate(Like Bush Does).Make them enemy combatants and send them south.Old Uf Grad FBK71

Relax people, the politicians campaigned on the promise to end homelassness in Pinellas in just 10-years. At this point we are at 7-years and counting. Just hang in a little more.

Susan, since you are sooo compassionate, I assume you house at least 3 homeless veterans in your home? And I don;t mean any you might be related to.

What's that? You don't???

Then shut the F-%$#) up and stop being so self-righteous.

[Zhombre]

Keep in mind, people, a pompous buffoon like Gene Smith and a self righteous, hysterical harridan like Susan S represent the activist base of the Democrat party. You want to see people like them hold political power? Say no to Stepford Democrats:

http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/hillary-edwards-tough-1928255-big-foreign

[Ali G.]

In the Middle East, they would just be called bedouins.

Anyway, I'm sure CODE PINK or some other nut fringe pot smoking hippie in Haight Ashbury group bussed them in there just for the cameras.

Hey MSM, do you think?

[Gene Smith]

Zhombre - The Orange County Register? The paper from the birth place of the John Birch Society? Is that the best you can do?

Maybe I should relax a bit more. With opposition like you, landslide won't even begin to describe the results of next year's elections. Keep up the good work.

[Zhombre]

Thanks, Gene. Yes, relax a bit. That's a good little Kossack. I'm sure all your noble, helium-filled efforts to blog Florida blue will pay off next year.

[Zhombre]

And, Gene, contemplate this too:

http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN2645320920071126

[Gene Smith]

That's right Zhombre - contemplate this:

"Clinton's top Democratic rivals, Barack Obama and John Edwards, still lead Republicans in hypothetical match-ups ahead of the November 4, 2008, presidential election, the survey by Zogby Interactive showed."

It is by no means a done deal that Hillary is the nominee.